title: Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the FTO gene and their association with growth and meat quality traits in rabbits.
abstract: Fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene is an excellent candidate to affect the fatness and growth-related traits in pig and cattle. The aim of this study was to reveal the association between FTO and growth and meat quality traits in rabbits. A total of eight coding SNPs were detected, and four SNPs of them in exon 3 were further genotyped for association analysis in 442 rabbits from three breeds, including 248 New Zealand rabbits, 92 Ira rabbits, and 102 Champagne rabbits. Because there were significant differences for the allele and genotype frequencies among breeds, the association analysis was independently conducted in each breed only for these SNPs with minor allele frequency >5.0%. The results revealed that non-synonymous SNP c.499G>A (p.A167T) was significantly associated with body weight (BW) at 35, 70, and 84 days of age in New Zealand rabbits (P<0.01). The CC genotype of synonymous SNP c.660T>C was significantly associated with higher BW84, average daily weight gain, and intramuscular fat content of longissimus lumborum than TT and TC genotypes in Ira rabbits (P<0.05). There were no associations between the four SNPs and growth and meat quality traits in Champagne rabbits. Meanwhile, FTO SNPs were not associated with meat pH value. Our data indicated that FTO gene could be a candidate gene associated with growth and meat quality traits in rabbits. However, the breed-specific effect should be carefully taken into consideration.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu Campus, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Gong-Wei
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Shi-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiao-Bing
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yao-Fu
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao-Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Song-Jia
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006128:Growth; D008461:Meat Products; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins
keywords: ADG; BW; Body weight; FTO; FTO gene; IMF; IMF of longissimus lumborum; IMF-LL; MAF; Meat quality; Rabbits; SNP; SNPs; average daily gain; body weight; cSNP; coding SNP; fat mass and obesity associated gene; intramuscular fat content; minor allele frequency; single nucleotide polymorphism